Prime Minister Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe concluded a successful visit to Indonesia from 1-3 August, during which he held bilateral discussions with Indonesian President H.E. Joko Widodo, addressed the 12th World Islamic Economic Forum(WIEF), engaged in several bilateral discussions with leaders attending the Conference. The Prime Minister addressed the economic forum on the morning of 2 August 2016 along with other leaders and special envoys.

The bilateral discussions held on 3 August at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta between the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and the Indonesian President was held in a warm and friendly atmosphere reflecting the longstanding friendship between the two countries and covered the gamut of political, economic, cultural and security-related matters as well as regional and international issues of common interest.

The two leaders discussed ways and means of elevating the bilateral political engagement through a further exchange of visits of Leaders and Ministerial level visits. They agreed on the need to enhance the economic engagement between the two countries including through the convening of the Joint Working Group(JWG) on Trade and Investment, holding of the Business Forums in Jakarta and Colombo, convening of the Joint Commission led by the Foreign Ministers, facilitating business and investments between the two countries, enhancing bilateral trade to over 1 US $ Billion from the current levels. They also explored ways and means to enhance cooperation relating to development of railways in Sri Lanka and Indian Ocean affairs. The discussions also considered avenues for closer cooperation between the armed forces and regional security.

On the sidelines of the Conference, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe also had discussions with Hon. Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd NajibTun Abdul Razak of Malaysia, President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan and Deputy Prime Minister DrJawad Al Anani of Jordan. The discussions with Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Ali, President, Islamic Development Bank and Mr. Tun Musa Hitam, Chairman, WIEF Foundation explored further cooperation between Sri Lanka and the two institutions.

Additionally, the Ministerial delegation and Senior officials held a series of focused discussions with several prospective investors, and an extensive session was held with several business Chambers including the National Chamber of Commerce (national KADIN) led by Mr. Rosan Roeslani, the Jakarta Chamber of Commerce (Kamar Dagang dan Industri Propinsi DKI Jakarta) led by Mr. Eddi Kuntadi, the National Women’s Chamber, several sectoral partners and regional Chambers.

The Sri Lanka delegation comprised of Minister of Public Enterprise Development Hon. Kabir Hashim, State Minister of National Integration and Reconciliation Hon. A.H.M. Fowzie, State Minister of International Trade Hon.Sujeewa Senasinghe, Mr. Faiz Mustapha, President’s Counsel, Mr. Saman Ekanayake, Secretary to the Prime Minister, Ambassador Dharshana M . Perera, Mr. Arjun Mahendran, Head of the Five Year Planning Unit, Mr. Saman Athaudahetti, Addl. Sec. (Media) of the Prime Minister’s Office, and other officials of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Embassy.